Precinct chairs to meet to replace Miles on ballot for...

2of4(Clockwise from top left) Erica Lee Carter, Shawn Theirry, Valencia Williams and Larry Blackmon want to be nominated for the State House seat.

3of4(Clockwise from top left) Erica Lee Carter, Shawn Theirry, Valencia Williams and Larry Blackmon want to be nominated for the State House seat.

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Twenty-seven southwest Houston precinct chairs are set to tap a replacement for Democratic state Rep. Borris Miles on Saturday, the third time in less than two months many of them have convened to fill a hole on the party's November ballot for non-judicial seats.

The vacancy is the latest result of former Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee's death in January, which set off a chain of openings. Precinct chairs in June selected state Sen. Rodney Ellis to replace Lee as the Democratic nominee for Precinct 1 commissioner, and they later chose Miles to fill Ellis' legislative seat.

At least four candidates are running to represent Miles' district of more than 175,000, which stretches from Sharpstown to Sunnyside.

Harris County Board of Education Trustee Erica Lee Carter and attorney Shawn Theirry are seen as frontrunners, with former City Council candidate Larry Blackmon and activist Valencia Williams also seeking the Democratic nod for District 146.

The legislative hopefuls expressed interest in a broad array of policy - from education funding, to health care and boosting job opportunities.

Carter, 36, touted her education policy experience and said she would push for online voter registration, public school finance reform and the expansion of workforce training programs, among other initiatives.

"I want to go there and bring the knowledge I have from being a former teacher, serving on school board, being a policy maker, and bring it to Austin," Carter said.

The daughter of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, she comes to the race with deep Democratic roots and endorsements from Annie's List, a Texas political action committee, the Harris County Gulf Coast AFL-CIO, former Mayor Annise Parker and a handful of Democratic state legislators, among others.

Thierry, who did not return a request for comment about her endorsements, has the advantage of already having participated in a similar precinct chair nominating process this summer, for the newly created 507th Family District Court.

Thierry, 46, said she has held a series of community meetings at which residents expressed concerns about the legal open carrying of firearms, the state's school finance system, food deserts in the district and funding for mental health programs.

"I feel we need someone who's really got the negotiating skills to work across the aisle with Republicans and also be just a strong fighter and an advocate," Thierry said. "That's my background. I'm a negotiator."

Jobs a priority

Blackmon, who ran unsuccessfully in 2015 for City Council At-Large Position 4, said he is running to "address the financial problems" in Houston, though he did not explain how he would seek to do so from Austin.

"The biggest priority - based on canvassing in the 146 - is jobs," said Blackmon, 66.

He added that he would like to bring more medical employment opportunities to the area and would push for Harris County to take a more regional approach to flood mitigation.

Williams, 39, previously was a precinct chair in the Braeswood area and said she is running to "revitalize the community."

Williams said she would push to increase the state's minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, a highly unlikely proposition in Texas' Republican-controlled Legislature.

"It's a matter of how you present the package," Williams said, undeterred.

Precinct chair Craig Holtzclaw, of the Sharpstown area, said he was deciding whether to back Thierry or Blackmon, knocking what he called Carter's establishment ties.

"Because the establishment is backing her and they've discredited themselves, that disqualifies her because she's going to be beholden to that same old group," Holtzclaw said.

For East Sunnyside precinct chair Toni Middleton Lewis, however, Carter's experience in elected office is a plus, since it means one can look up her record.

"I would hope ... that the person we're choosing is the person we feel will do the best job based on his or her past experience that we know of," Lewis said.

No GOP candidate

Miles was running for District 146 unopposed, meaning the candidate precinct chairs nominate is all but guaranteed to take office in January.

Precinct chair Tiffany Hogue, of Brays Oaks, discussed the challenge of trying to represent the views of her constituents, as well as the opinions of those in surrounding areas who do not have a precinct chair.

"A process that people never expected to use has been used three times in the course of a month and a half," referring to the Democratic Party meetings to replace Lee, Ellis and Miles.

"We've definitely seen some of the pros and cons of filling vacancies on ballots this way."

Rebecca Elliott covers City Hall for the Houston Chronicle, having previously written about local politics, namely the 2015 Houston mayor’s race. She joined the Chronicle in 2014 as a crime and general assignment reporter in Fort Bend County. A New York City native, she also has reported on politics for Reuters, POLITICO and BuzzFeed.